


The Center of Attention

by swc-afterdark (ironmermaidens)



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Fade to Black, Food Play, M/M, Nantaimori, Praise Kink, Sushi, non-sexual nudity, stress positions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:27:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28917582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironmermaidens/pseuds/swc-afterdark
Summary: Keralis throws a party, and wants a lovely centerpiece to complete the decorations. What better centerpiece than a living sushi platter?
Relationships: Keralis/Evil X
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	The Center of Attention

He's posed sitting up. Count on Keralis to make things difficult for him. He didn't want his centerpiece to look like a lifeless corpse. He loved extravagance, and so it wouldn't do to have Evil X laying down waiting for the hermits to eulogize him. Instead he sits with one leg curled under himself, the other foot flat to the table so he can balance his arm on his knee. He's leaning back ever so slightly, propped up by his remaining hand, so that his arm is almost straight, parallel to the flat surface of the table. 

Sitting up doesn't leave as much of his body open to be used as laying down. Every inch counted. It was uncomfortable, his arm and back already trembling with the effort of holding himself steady, but it was what Keralis wanted. He knows his reward will be worth it. He suppresses a shiver at the memory of Keralis whispering sweetly into his ear just what he would do to Evil X as he brushed his body with glimmering kelp paints, tangerine and coral hues sparkling on his shoulders and chest, catching the light with every deep, steady breath he takes. He wonders if Keralis picked the same colors for his eye and lips. Maybe a garnet or an emerald to make his crimson irises pop. 

He feels a thrill as he imagines Keralis showing him photographs later of his time as a statuesque platter, bamboo leaves arranged between his legs, salmon rolls, nigiri, and sashimi lining his thigh, his arm, muscles tense as he holds himself still, eyes lidded with concentration. He hates sitting still, yet the thought of being forced to—forced to in front of so many others, eyes all on him as they admire the art Keralis has turned him into—makes his belly flutter pleasantly. 

The elevator doors slide open, and Evil X's gut clenches at the sound of voices. Sudden nervousness sweeps through him, and he feels the trembling of his arms so much more acutely. He's tempted to fidget, to shift his body weight and ease the growing ache in his shoulders and back, but resists. He can't, not now. Not when he's only just begun. He sees the first arrivals into the room, Keralis, of course, escorting Beef and xB and Xisuma, small talk and laughter buzzing in his ears. 

xB's gaze brushes over him, and his foot twitches. Beef and Xisuma's both join him, eyes all raking over his naked body, and he flexes the palm holding him upright. His face feels warm as he watches them watching him. He can hardly think. He catches himself about to lift his foot from the table and stretches his toes, and clenches his jaw instead. He lets his eyes flutter shut, and pretends they aren't there. It's easier to focus on staying still if he doesn't think about the hungry gazes watching him. He can pretend they aren't looking at him if his eyes are closed. Their voices are a comforting presence this way. He doesn't feel so intimidated. 

The elevator dings again, and more guests arrive. The voices of Doc and Ren stand out, but the others' accents are lost to the growing sea of sounds in the room. More arrivals join them. He wonders how long before dinner will begin. The crowd grows with more arrivals. He can hear Grian now, and Iskall, and Stress. His arms and back already ache from sitting still so long. He knows he has much longer to go before he can relax. Still, he holds on.

He hears the tinny clinking of glasses and silverware against plates and takes a deep breath. The muscles of his thigh still jump ever so slightly when he feels a piece of the salmon roll being pulled at by a pair of porcelain chopsticks. The chuckle that washes over the crowd makes it clear it hadn't gone unnoticed. He lets out his breath slowly, ignores the heat in his cheeks, and furrows his brow in concentration. When another piece is taken from its place on his forearm, he's prepared. 

"You're doing great, Evil X," comes Xisuma's familiar voice, low in his ear as he pulls a piece of the squid sashimi away from Evil X's bicep. His lip twitches in response, but he stops himself from pulling a face, from making a snide remark back. He's not allowed to talk to the guests. He's not allowed to make ugly faces. He lets his eyelids flutter open, turning his cool gaze to Xisuma, and Xisuma chortles as his crimson eyes meet violet. The eye contact only lasts a second before Xisuma lets his eyes wander down Evil X's body, over the warm tones glittering on his chest and down his belly, over the leaves that barely protect his modesty from the eyes of all the hermits. His cheeks burn, probably match the shade of the body paint with how hot they feel, and only get warmer when Xisuma says, "Keralis did a good job with you. You look good enough to eat."

Evil X lets his eyes slip closed again, swallowing down his instinct to deflect the compliment and tries to focus only on sitting still once more. His heart misses a beat as Xisuma's words swim around his head. Was that what the other hermits thought of him, too? He strains to listen past the periodic prodding of chopsticks against his skin, the weight of sushi being lifted away, and focus on the conversation around him. He catches the occasional word or phrase through the din of the crowd. _Delicious. Vibrant. Elegant. Beautiful._

Were they talking about him? His heart thuds at the thought. He almost misses the way the conversation seems to die off around him, so wrapped up in his own head. But the quiet draws his attention, and he focuses on it, strains to hear if there's some reason for the anticipatory whispers that have replaced the candid conversation from before. 

Something soft brushes against his upright leg and it shocks him so much he can't help but jump, a piece of nigiri loosing itself off his arm and onto the table. Before he can chastise himself, though, he feels lips and teeth against his thigh, and he gasps. The teeth scrape delicately against his skin, picking up a roll into a waiting mouth, and they're followed by lips dragging wetly where the teeth had just scraped in a pseudo-kiss. The lips pull away, leaving his skin hot and cold all at once, bare without food to shield it, without teeth to worry it, and lips to kiss it. The crowd cheers for whichever brave hermit had eaten directly from his body. Evil X breathes raggedly, and wishes he could ask them to do it again.

There are no more brave hermits this night. The rest of the sushi is picked away from his body with chopsticks and fingers. He feels lighter without the rolls covering him, yet heavier as the night wears on, the stiff ache in his shoulders and back growing with every passing minute. He can't drop his pose, though, even without any sushi to hold up. An empty serving platter was still a platter. It was still art. _He_ was still art. 

He's too tired to focus on the words being spoken now, too tired to follow the words even though he is desperate for the scraps of affection from them. Now he only wants them to leave, so he might relax, release the tension from his muscles and drift into the exhausted sleep that even now threatens to overtake him. He hardly notices the dwindling voices as the hours pass, the ding of the elevator as it takes its passengers back down to the ground floor. He hardly notices at all when the room is entirely silent. Not until he feels hands rest on his shoulders, startling him out of the half-asleep daze he'd found himself drifting into. 

"All done now, Evil Shishwammy," Keralis says, his fingers kneading at Evil X until he lets himself relax into the touch. He sinks bonelessly against Keralis and sighs in relief as the pressure in his elbows seems to dissipate in an instant. "You did so good, sat so still and pretty up there. Perhaps a bit naughty, not letting anyone see those pretty eyes of yours, but nevertheless, you were a very good boy for me." 

Evil X's cheeks flush and he whines, face finally contorting into the ugly sneer he'd resisted making every time someone complimented him over the course of the party. Keralis, for his part, seems entirely nonplussed by the hostility. He laughs and says, "Okay, okay. I bet you'll be wanting that reward I promised you, hmm?"

Evil X is too tired to sass the other man, and instead nods his assent. He feels Keralis shifting beneath him before he speaks again. "Now, open wide for Papa K!"

He obeys without hesitance, opening his mouth as directed, and suddenly finds it being filled with rice and salmon. He blinks open his eyes in confusion, picking himself up off of Keralis so he can turn an unimpressed glare on him, even as he devours the nigiri Keralis had placed on his tongue. 

Keralis smiles innocently at him. "Tada! I saved you a piece. It's nice, isn't it? To get to taste yourself like we tasted you?"

That gives Evil X pause, a little jolt of pleasure racing through his body as he considers just how much of himself the others got to taste. He swallows down the nigiri, tasting like fish and rice and not at all like he wants to imagine he would taste, and says, "Was that the piece I dropped?"

Keralis giggles. "It _was_ the piece you dropped. Still good, though, right?"

Evil X rolls his eyes and lets himself fall back against Keralis's body. He's caught with ease. Leave it to Keralis to trick him with some silly joke like this. He'd think twice before agreeing to be Keralis's centerpiece next time. Even if he did enjoy the attention.

Keralis's fingers press against his hips, and Evil X is suddenly reminded that aside from the bamboo leaves covering him and the body paint glittering on his skin, he's entirely nude. He feels the press of lips against his neck, then his jaw, and then, he hears Keralis, his voice low and intimate, breath hot on the shell of his ear. "Don't worry, my pretty little sushi plate. We're only just getting to your _real_ reward."

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to [Shadowfire_RavenPheonix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowfire_RavenPheonix) for beta reading this for me, and making all of Keralis's dialogue just a bit more... Keralis. c:


End file.
